Royal Challengers Bangalore Director of Cricket Mike Hesson heaped praise on Virat Kohli after they won against table-toppers Gujarat Titans by eight wickets at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Thursday. RCB had to chase down a competitive total of 169 runs and it was a must-win game for them to stay alive in the playoff race.
Kohli started out aggressively and he was able to hit the ground running. The talisman timed the ball to perfection and went on to score 73 runs off just 54 balls with the help of eight fours and two sixes. Thus, he got the team into a match-winning situation and Glenn Maxwell was able to add the finishing touches.
Hesson said Kohli set the tone of the run-chase for them and he was delighted the talisman made a match-winning contribution.
Kohli was not at his best earlier in the season and he played with aplomb in the last league stage match for RCB.
“Look, absolutely delighted. I think just shows like any team if you have the top order firing and a player like Virat (Kohli), then it makes the rest of the chase a lot easier. And obviously chasing scores here, you know, hasn’t been our forte so far in this IPL,” Hesson told the press after RCB’s big win.
“We’ve sort of been able to defend scores but haven’t been able to chase. So I think we know Virat the ‘chase master’ and obviously he set the tone again today. So obviously crucial game for us. And as you said, the I guess the big players stand up, don’t they?”
Kohli was also pumped up during his knock as he was celebrating every boundary. The New Zealander added that Kohli brought a lot of intensity to the run chase.
“He brought a huge amount of intensity to the game, we could see that from the sidelines. Whether Faf was on strike, played a good shot or rotated the strike, he was pretty much in the game. He just needed that little bit of luck to go his way and we knew he would get going. I think we know when Virat is in that frame of mind, good luck, he can take the game away from anyone,” Hesson added.
In fact, Kohli didn’t have the rub of the green on his side earlier in the season as he got out in an unlucky fashion on multiple occasions.
“He pretty much found each and every way to get out. There certainly wasn’t a pattern to those dismissals. The fact that he has worked so hard in the nets, trying to find that rhythm. I guess the contest allowed him to keep that confidence up. He is only human, he can go through patches like that. He had a little bit of luck but he deserved it.”
